Ditching machine



Mach 18, 1930.

DITCHING MACHINE Filed April 9, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l A. MONTANQlnmmao-- March 18, 1930. A. MONTANO DITCHING MACHINE Filed April 9, 19292 Sheets-Sheat 2 Patented Mar. 18, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEANTONIO MONTANO, OF LA JARA, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BELARMINOGONZALES, OF LA TARA, COLORADO, AND ONE-SIXTH TO EUGENIO B. ROMERO, OF

ANTONITO, COLORADO DITCHING MACHINE Application filed April 9,

This invention relates to improvements in ditching machines of the typeemployed in connection with the irrigation of land, but

which can also be employed as road graders or for smoothening landsurfaces and for many other particular uses.

It is the object of this invention to produce a ditching machine of asimple and substantial construction that can be manufactured at areasonable price and which shall be especially adapted for irrigationwork and by means of which ditches of any desired depth and width canreadily be formed.

This invention, briefly described, consists of a frame member ofsubstantially L-shape having a ditching blade or share connectedthereto. The rear end of the blade is attached to the free end of theshorter arm of the frame member, while the front end of the blade isattached to the longer arm of the frame memher by means of an adjustablebar, which serves to hold the blade in a predetermined angular positionwith respect to the frame member and by means of which the blade canalso be adjusted about its longitudinal axis. Wheels are secured to thefront and to the rear of the frame member and another wheel is securedto the blade near the front end of the latter and means is provided forraising or lowering the frame with respect to the axes of the wheels.

Having thus briefly described the invention the same will now bedescribed in detail and for this purpose reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings, in which the preferred embodiment thereof hasbeen illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the machine which forms the subject ofthis invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation taken along plane 2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33, Fig. 1; Fig. 4: is a sideelevation of the rear supportingwheel looking in the direction of arrow4, Fig. 1;

Fig- 5 is a side elevation of the adjusting wheel attached to the frontof the blade; Fig. G is a section taken on line 6-6, Fig.

5; and v j 7 is a section taken on line 77, Fig. 1.

1929. Serial No. 353,863.

In the drawing reference numeral 1 represents the longer arm of anL-shaped frame member whose shorter arm has been designated by referencenumeral 2. This frame has been illustrated as being formed from an angleiron of standard shape, but may be made from T iron or of any othersuitable commercial steel form. The outer end of the shorter arm 2 isbent downwardly at right angles so as to form a downwardly extendingportion 3 whose lower end is bent outwardly as indicated by referencenumeral 4. Secured to this frame member is a ditching blade or sharewhich is formed from a sheet of steel 5 to the outer side of which anangle iron 6..is attached. This angle iron has an outwardly extendingflange 7 and is secured to the share by means of bolts or rivets 8. Therear end of flange 7 is connected with the outwardly extending portion dof the frame by means of a bolt 9 in the manner shown in Fig. 6.Interposed between the upper surface of the flange 7 and the lowersurface of part 4 is a double convex washer 10, While the surface of thehead of the bolt and the surface of the nut 11 which come in contactrespectively with the flange 7 and the flange 4, are slightly convex.This construction permits a slight universal movement between the flange7 and the part 4 so that the blade can be adjusted in any directionwithout producing undue strains at this point. Secured to the framemember are two caster wheels 12 and 13. Wheel 12 is attached to theframe by means of a casting 14 that is secured to the arm 1 in anysuitable manner and has an upwardly extending portion 1.5 thatterminates in an overhanging lug 16 which is perforated for thereception of a screw 17 that can be rotated by means of a hand wheel 18.Member 14 is provided with a rectangular notch 19 in which therectangularly shaped bar 20 is slidably mounted. A plate 21 that is heldin place by means of bolts 22 holds the bar 20 in place. The low- 95 orend of bar 20 is bent outwardly at right angles in the manner indicatedat 23 and this outwardly bent portion is provided with an opening forthe reception of the shaft 2 1- which extends upwardly from: the fork25.

The wheel 12 is rotatably secured between the two arms of the fork bymeans of a pin 26. A collar 27 is nonrotatably secured to shaft 24 andis provided at one place with a notch into which the pawl 28 may dropfor the purpose of holding the parts against rotation. WVhen the pawl 28is in place in the notch, the wheel 12 is held in position for making astraight ditch. By means of the hand wheel and the screw 18, the frontend of arm 1 can be raised and lowered for the purpose of adjustment aswill be hereinafter more fully explained. The wheel 13 is secured to theframe by means which have been illustrated in Fig. 4, from which it willbe seen that a casting 29 is secured to the frame member by means ofbolts or rivets 30 and which casting has an upwardly extending portion31 that terminates in a lateral lug 32 which is perforated and threadedfor the reception of a screw 33 provided with a hand wheel 34. A bar 35of rectangular cross section is slidably mounted in an opening in thiscasting and is held in place by a plate 36 that is secured to thecasting by means of bolts 37. Bar 35 has its lower end bent rearwardlyso as to form a horizontal arm 38 whose outer end is perforated so as toform a bearing for the circular shaft portion 39 that extends upwardlyfrom the wheel fork 40. A collar 41 is secured to the fork 40 andengages the under side of part 38. A disk 42 is nonrotatably secured tothe shaft portion 39 and this disk is provided with a notch 43 intowhich the lug 44 projects when the wheel is in one position. l Vhen thelug 44 is in place in the manner shown in Fig. 4, it holds wheel 13 sothat it will rotate in a plane parallel to the plane in which wheel 12rotates, and therefore the ditcher will travel in a straight line. WVhenthe ditcher is to be turned lugs 44 and 28 must be moved to inoperativeposition and when this is done, the wheels are free to move about thevertical axes about which the forks can rotate and therefore turns ofany curvature can be made.

The front end of the blade is supported by means of a wheel 45 which isattached to the blade by means which has been shown in detail in Figs. 5and 6. A channel shaped bracket 46 is secured to the upper side offlange 7 by means of bolts or rivets 47 and is also secured to the blade5 of the cutter. Secured to the upper flange of member 46 is a bearing48 that is provided with a quadrant at one end. An L-shaped bar having ahorizontal portion 49 and a vertical portion 50 is mounted for rotationin the bearing 48 and is provided at its inner end with a handle 51,which serves as a means for rotating the member about the axis of thehorizontal portion 49. Handle 51 is provided with a detent 52 and meansfor operating it so that the parts can be held in adjusted position. Thelower end of member 50 is provided with a wheel fork 53 between the twoarms of which the wheel 45 is mounted. The bearing 48 is secured to theupper flange of member 46 by means of a bolt 54 so that it may rotateabout the axis of this bolt. WVhen the wheel 45 is in the position shownin Fig. 5, it holds the front end of the blade above the surface of theground, but when the ditcher is in operation, the wheel can be rotatedabout the axis of part 49 so as to permit the front end of the ditchingblade to extend into the surface of the ground to any extent desired.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be seen that a channel shapedbracket 55 has been secured to the upper edge of plate 5 and to theflange 7 by means of bolts or rivets. A bar 56 extends through openingsin the flanges of the brackets 55 and through an opening in the flange 7is a ferrule 57 surrounds the shaft 56 and is located between theflanges of mem- 3er 55. This sleeve or ferrule is held in place by meansof a pin 58. A nut serves to clamp the rod 56 and to hold it in adjustedposition. A brace comprising two parts 59 and 60 extends between thefront end of the ditching blade and the corresponding end of the framemember. Member 59 is provided with a perforated hub portion 61, throughwhich the bar 56 extends. The free end of member 60 is connected bymeans of a link 62 and a clevice 63 with one of several openings inflange 64. By moving the clevice upwardly or downwardly along flange 64,the blade 5 can be tilted about its longitudinal axis so as to alter itsangular relation with respect to the surface of the ground and therebygetthe best adjustment for satisfactory operation. The two parts 59 and60 overlap each other and are connected by means of bolts 65 which canbe removed so that this brace may be shortened or lengthened as may bedesired.

The tractor or the horses, whichever is used for pulling the ditchingmachine, is attached by means of chains or cables to link 66 and to themovable plate 67. A seat 68 is provided for the operator.

When the machine above described is to be transported from place toplace, handle 51 is moved into vertical position so as to raise thefront end of the ditching blade from the surface of the ground. Thepawls 28 and 44 are moved to inoperative position so as to permit thewheels to turn about the vertical axes in the manner above described andwhen thus adjusted the machine can be transported to any place desired.WVhen the machine is to be used for cutting a ditch, handle 51 isrotated so as to raise the wheel 58 from the ground, thereby permittingthe front end of the blade to penetrate the surface of the ground. Byadjusting the height of the frame above the axis of wheel 13, the widthof the ditch can be regulated and this is also influenced by thedistance between the front end of the blade and the front end of theframe member. By

the construction of ditches.

properly regulating the position of wheel 45 and wheel 13, this machinecan be used for scraping dust and dirt from the side of the road towardsthe center and for leveling ground for irrigation purposes and for manyother uses.

I want to call particular attention to the fact that with this deviceditching can be accomplished without first plowing and by this means alot of labor and expense is saved in The device can also be used to fillold ditches and to clean old ditches and in fact can be employed forperforming almost any operation in connection with irrigation ditches.Only one man is needed to operate this machine as the Wheels can be soset that the machine will travel in a straight line and on account ofthe manner in which the blade is supported an opertor is not needed forcontrolling the ditcher as is often necessary with ditchers constructedin other ways.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced avery simple and substantial ditching machine that is capable of avariety of uses and which can be readily adjusted so as to form ditchesof any desired width and depth and which can also be readily transportedfrom place to place.

In the above description and in the embodiment of the inventionillustrated, wheels 12, 13 and 45 have been shown as secured in place byspecific attaching devices that have means for adjusting the verticalposition of the frame and blade. The means illustrated and described aremerely intended to illustrate one method of accomplishing this resultand is not to be construed as limiting the invention to the specificconstruction shown to any greater extent than made necessary by thestate of the prior art.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. In a device of the class described, in combination, a framecomprising an L-shaped member, a ditching blade, means for attaching oneend of the blade directly to the outer end of the short leg of the framemember, means for adjustably connecting the blade to the other end ofthe frame and means for independently raising and lowering both ends ofthe blade with respect to the supporting surface on which the devicerests.

2. In a device of the class described, in combination, a frame having along side and a short side angularly related to each other, a ditchingblade having one end connected directly with the free end of the shorterside and the other end connected with the free end of the longer arm bymeans of a. brace member of adjustable length, three wheels secured tothe adjustable ,ditcher assembly and means for adjusting the position ofthe wheels with respect to the assembly.

3. A ditching and grading machine comprising, in combination, a framecomposed of a long side member and a short side member angularly relatedto each other, a ditching blade having one end connected to the free endof the shorter member by means that permits the blade to move withrespect thereto, the other end of the blade being connected with thefree end of the longer side member by an extensible brace, andadjustable supports secured respectively to the front end of the blade,the front end of the longer side of the frame and to the shorter side ofthe frame.

4. A ditching and grading machine comprising, in combination, a framecomposed of a long side member and a short side member angularly relatedto each other, a ditching blade having one end connected to the free endof the shorter member by means that permits the blade to move withrespect thereto, the other end of the blade being connected with thefree end of the longer side member by an extensible brace, means foradjusting the end of the brace vertically with respect to the framewhereby the blade can be rotated about its longitudinal axis andadjustable supports secured respectively to the front end of the blade,the front end of the longer side of the frame and to the shorter side ofthe frame.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ANTONIO MONTANO.

